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Expert:

DMT is a drug that you probably know as the 'businessman's trip,' although its medical name is dimethyltryptamine. Regardless of what you call it though, this recreational drug is a hallucinogen and it's illegal--unless, of course, you're a shaman!

Transcript: DMT is a psychedelic drug has long been used by South American shamans to reach a higher cognitive state....

DMT is a psychedelic drug has long been used by South American shamans to reach a higher cognitive state. Today, it's can also be found on college campuses. Interestingly, DMT is also found in small amounts in the human body, where it's created for an unknown purpose during food metabolism. But the DMT made by your body won't get you high, which is why the drug is extracted from plants like mimosa hostilis and psychotria verdis. Because the body is accustomed to metabolizing DMT, consuming the plant extract orally will not provide a psychedelic experience. If, however, oral DMT is combined with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor, , the drug will not be metabolized by the body, and a high will occur. Harmala alkaloids in certain plants serve as MAOIs in ayahuasca.When used in religious ceremonies, DMT is combined with a plant-based MAOI, and brewed into a hallucinogenic drink called ayahuasca. If MAOIs sound familiar, they are also an older class of anti-depressant used currently when other treatment options haven't been successful.Consuming ayahuasca is the center of a Brazilian-based religious movement called Santo Daime, which is also practiced in the United States. As such, a 2004 Supreme Court ruling made the drug legal for use, but only in religious ceremonies. But to avoid the complications of preparing ayahuasca, people seeking the effects of DMT are more likely to smoke or snort the drug. Whether taken legally or not, DMT creates an almost immediate sense of euphoria, a feeling of sheer relaxation, and peaceful hallucinations. DMT is best known for inducing very intense, if short-lasting visual hallucinations, often described as colorful 'stained glass window, circular chrysanthemum-like. And unlike LSD and other psychedelics, DMT visuals tend to take up your ENTIRE visual field and are truly generated internally-meaning it's not like watching a wall and seeing it ripple on LSD or seeing trails caused by objects in the edges of your visual field. On the negative side, DMT can lead to a rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, and severe paranoia. If DMT is smoked, any of these effects are brief, lasting no more than five to thirty minutes. In other forms, the DMT high is still short, and usually ends within an hour. Because it can be rapidly enjoyed-like on a lunch break-it's also known as the "businessman's high." Not much is known about the long-term effects of DMT, but the drug is still illegal without religious reason. As such, use DMT at your own risk.